Mediterranean is the headlined Up And Coming Stakes 2016 nomination taken for this Saturday at Royal Randwick with the Peter & Paul Snowden-trained colt out to atone for a last start loss.
Group 1 winner Prized Icon is nominated for a first-up run in the 2016 Up & Coming Stakes at Royal Randwick this Saturday in Sydney. Photo: Steve Hart.
A total of 13 three-year-olds make up the early entries for the $125,000 Group 3 Up And Coming Stakes (1300m) in Sydney, nominations for the Warwick Stakes Day act extended until 11:00am (AEST) on Tuesday.
Of the original entries, the Team Snowden-trained Mediterranean is the shortest-priced in all-in markets at Ladbrokes.com.au for next month’s $1 million Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill.
The September 10 feature is the major target for the bulk of the Up And Coming Stakes nominated runners including Smart Missile colt Mediterranean who is at $11 in current Golden Rose Stakes odds.
He won at Canterbury on July 6 braking his maiden status at his third run before going down as the short-priced favourite at Randwick on August 6 when narrowly beaten by Thronum in the Listed The Rosebud (1200m).
ing the likely Up And Coming Stakes favourite in the nominations is stablemate Taj Mahal, the More Than Ready colt racing for the first time since a win over 1300m at Warwick Farm from early April.
The other top 2016 Golden Rose-bound three-year-olds entered for an Up And Coming Stakes run this Sydney Spring Racing Carnival are the Lindsay Park-trained Derryn ($15) and Prized Icon ($17) for James Cummings.
Hinchinbrook colt Derryn is a nicely-bred youngster who has had just two starts to date, both in Melbourne, including a Caulfield win over 1000m last time out from barrier 12 of 12 on July 30.
He races the Sydney way of going for the first time if accepted into the Up & Coming Stakes field where he is tipped to handle the reverse going as well as the step up in distance.
Prized Icon is better-tried, the More Than Ready colt having had five of his seven career starts at the Randwick track.
Both of his wins so far have been at the course, including his one length victory from April 16 in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes (1600m).
He has trialled twice since at the track, is a proven Group 1 winner and the 1300m first-up is also sure to suit the genuine miler.
Chris Waller has also nominated for two last start winners with Mossman colt Cellarman last seen winning over 1400m at Eagle Farm on Stradbroke Handicap Day and Pound Sterling coming off a first-up Warwick Farm win on a Heavy (10) track from the start of the month.
Waller’s third Up And Coming Stakes entry is Nikitas, the Gold Coast Magic Millions Classic runner-up to Capitalist last seen finishing a distant 11th to Sacred Elixir in the Group 1 JJ Atkins Stakes (1600m) in Brisbane.
Also dually represented in the Up And Coming Stakes entries is Godolphin’s head trainer John O’Shea with Kent and Peacock, two other runners that won their final runs as juveniles.
Domesday gelding Kent saluted over 15500m at Canterbury on June 13 as the odds-on favourite and is as yet untested in stakes class, while Lonhro colt Peacock won over 1400m at Randwick in late April ahead of his Black-Type debut on Saturday.
See below for the full Up And Coming Stakes 2016 nominations, the field and markets out on Wednesday with the best odds available online through Ladbrokes.com.au!
2016 Up And Coming Stakes Nominations
Randwick Racecourse – 20/08/2016
| # | Form (Last 10) | Horse | Sex | Age | Trainer | H. Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6221 | CELLARMAN | C | 3 | Chris Waller | 69 |
| 2 | 6×1 | DERRYN | C | 3 | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | – |
| 3 | 5x13x | DIVINE PROPHET | C | 3 | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | 76 |
| 4 | 2x21x | KENT | G | 3 | John O’Shea | 67 |
| 5 | 55×12 | MEDITERRANEAN | C | 3 | Peter & Paul Snowden | 73 |
| 6 | 132x830x | NIKITAS | C | 3 | Chris Waller | 79 |
| 7 | 7x21x | PEACOCK | C | 3 | John O’Shea | 67 |
| 8 | 425x6x6 | PITTSBURGH | C | 3 | Anthony Cummings | – |
| 9 | 50×1 | POUND STERLING | C | 3 | Chris Waller | 65 |
| 10 | 3x323211x | PRIZED ICON | C | 3 | James Cummings | – |
| 11 | 1×51 | REBEL MISS | F | 3 | Matthew Smith | – |
| 12 | 3x271x | TAJ MAHAL | C | 3 | Peter & Paul Snowden | 68 |
| 13 | 5x5115x64 | WALK RIGHT IN | C | 3 | Paul Perry | 62 |
